The Perfect Wings of Fate
by justcallmesmitty
Summary: [Personal Archives] AU / A housing issue at Colorado University results in the meeting of six distinct individuals. Hijinks ensue.


**From the archives:** Yes, I located my stash of Roswell fanfic while I was at my parents' home over the holidays this year. Aside from a few spelling corrections, I'm publishing them without major editing. Yes, I was a much different writer when I initially wrote and published these (15+ years ago, which is mind-boggling to me). Please be kind to the version of me that wrote these.

**Disclaimer:** Didn't own it then. Don't own it now. _Roswell_ and its characters (still, I assume) belong to Warner Brothers.

* * *

Elizabeth Parker frantically searched the housing assignments that were posted on the wall of the Student Center at Colorado University.

She didn't see her name anywhere.

Elizabeth, or "Liz", as most people called her, was frustrated.

Going to CU had been a big step for her. She didn't know anybody at all in Colorado, much less at the college. However, it did have an awesome archaeological program, and it was as close to home as she could get without being too far from it.

The one thousand miles in between herself and her family would suffice.

She heard someone start to talk next to her: "Is there anyone who doesn't have a room assignment at the moment?"

Liz slowly turned to look at the speaker, and then tentatively raised her hand.

The man gazed down at his clipboard, and asked her name.

"Elizabeth Parker."

To which he replied, "All right. Right this way, Ms. Parker. You've been given a special housing assignment off campus due to shortage of rooms. I will fill you in with the rest of the details on the way there. Would you care to follow me?"

A stunned Elizabeth Parker followed at his heels. They hopped into a taxicab and started for the destination that would be Liz's home for the next nine and a half months.

* * *

Maria DeLuca stepped off of her bus and into the bright sunshine of the cool Colorado afternoon.

She gazed around at the small bus station and drew her carryon items close. She would need to come back in a few days to retrieve the rest of the things she had brought with her; There was no possible way that she could be able to carry all of it to the university with her. Not even if she were an alien.

A sigh escaped her mouth as she took a breath of the clean, mountain air.

Looking around for a taxi to take her to the university, she caught sight of a brunette about her age who was struggling with her bags attempting to get into a townhome-like structure.

Maria decided to venture over and help out. Not having many things to carry was an advantage: she could hold some stuff while the girl finished moving in.

"Hello? Do you want some help?"

The brunette spun around to find a blonde standing almost directly behind her.

"You wouldn't mind helping me?"

A grin broke out on Maria's face.

"Of course not! You look as though you could use some help!"

By now, the brunette was smiling as well.

"Thanks so much! You have no idea... Really! Thank you!"

Together, the girls moved everything inside and managed to take in the atmosphere of the house.

Despite the view from the street, the place was quite large. And despite the fact that it was a makeshift college dormitory, the place was furnished like a frat house.

In no time, Maria and the brunette were seated on one of the couches in the main living room. Maria was curious about this girl who apparently was going to live in this big building by herself. To begin with, however, she chose to ask the girl's name.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I recall knowing your name."

The brunette began to shift uneasily. An embarrassed grin slowly spread across her face.

"I'm so sorry! Elizabeth Parker. My friends call me 'Liz'. And you would be...?"

"Maria DeLuca. My friends call me 'Maria'!"

Both girls erupted into laughter at Maria's joke, but suddenly Liz stopped and asked, "Did you say 'Maria DeLuca'?"

"That would be my name..."

A squeal escaped from Liz's mouth and a megawatt smile spread from cheek to cheek.

"You're living here!"

"I'm what?"

"You're living here! You see, they sort of ran out of housing at the university so they set up this place for us and four others. It's ours, Maria. It's ours!"

With that, Maria let out a squeal as well, and soon the two roommates found themselves getting to know each other.

After conversing for a half an hour, exhaustion took over and found both girls asleep on the largest couch in the living space.

* * *

Max and Isabel Evans stepped out of their vehicle at the residence the worker at the Student Center had told them they would be living in.

Grabbing a few overnight things, they walked up the front steps of the building, and taking out the key that the guy had given them, Isabel and Max found themselves in the foyer of a large apartment-like house.

Walking around they discovered a kitchen, a game room, a bathroom, and a lavish living room on the main floor. On one of the couches in the living room, however, they also found two girls asleep.

Isabel had wanted to wake them up and get to know them, but Max suggested that they not. He said that the brunette looked peaceful in her sleep. Isabel shook her head and scowled; her brother had not had much interest in girls in the past. He seemed to be waiting around for one to just drop in his lap as if by magic; waiting around for the right one without even searching.

She drug her small suitcase upstairs and found that there were seven bedrooms and three bathrooms. When she noticed that neither of the girls downstairs had luggage upstairs, she quickly investigated each room and claimed one as her own.

Max came upstairs then, and upon finding that his sister had already tagged a room as her own, he quickly did the same, and although his wasn't joined to a bathroom as hers was, he was content with the smallest room in the house because it had an amazing view of the mountains.

He stretched out on the bed and watched through the door as Isabel unpacked across the hall. She was putting a few clothes in her closet and unloading the majority of her makeup into the bathroom.

When she had finished unpacking her small bag, she marched across to Max's room and asked for the key to the car that was parked outside. She then set out to grab a few boxes to unpack a bit more before she got some rest.

While she was retrieving things from the vehicle, Max started to fade into sleep for some much-needed rest.

When she returned, she found him asleep and ventured into her room to unload some more of her stuff.

She smiled to herself as she began thinking that this was going to be an interesting year.

* * *

A full art scholarship to Colorado University was just what Michael Guerin had always dreamed about, and his dream was finally coming true.

He was near enough to home that he could go home on the weekends, and he was close enough to the mountains to hear their desire to be painted.

The cool afternoon was the perfect setting for where he now sat on the steps of his new home: a substitute for the college dorms which had already been filled up.

He heard the door open behind him and he turned to look at who it was. A blonde stepped out and suddenly stopped as she looked to where he was sitting.

Taking note that he had a box of paint lying by his side, she questioned, "Are you Michael?"

To which he uneasily replied, "Yes... that would be me. How did you know?"

She smiled and answered, "They said that there would be an artist living here by the name of Michael. I just took a wild guess!"

He slowly smiled back. He had a feeling that he was going to get along with this girl. However, he had another question.

"Would you be Maria?"

"Maria? No! I'm Isabel. I think Maria is asleep in the living room. At least one of them is Maria. We haven't exactly spoken yet... Why did you think I was Maria?"

"They said that there would be a blonde named Maria living here. Apparently she's here to major in music and minor in art, so I was just guessed... I mean, you are blonde but I don't think you look like the artist type. No offense of course!"

Isabel laughed.

"You could say that I'm not the artsy type! I, however, do want to get the rest of my stuff in before it gets dark. So, not to be rude or anything, but I'll have to talk to you later."

"Do you need some help carrying things in?"

Isabel shook her head.

"I've only got one more box and a small bag left. If you could hold open the door, though, I'll only have to make one trip. Could you do that for me?"

Michael swung out his arm and pushed open the door. With a grin he exclaimed, "I think I could do that!"

After Isabel had finished moving her things inside, both her and Michael brought the few items he had with him in and took them upstairs, where Michael claimed the bedroom next to Max's.

Isabel and Michael ventured downstairs to grab something to drink, and on the way, passed by the living room couch where two young ladies were still sound asleep. Michael glanced over at the blonde and then muttered something about a pixie fairy girl meaning trouble.

Giving him a skeptical look, Isabel remarked, "I don't think we'll have to wonder about the blonde at all. She doesn't look like she could hurt anything."

To which Michael firmly stated, "I think we'll have more to worry about than we will be able to handle. She's a vibrator, all right."

"A vibrator? Are you sure you're not a psych student?"

Isabel was laughing. The look on Michael's face was priceless. She knew she was going to need to look out for those two in the future.

However, being hungry, she was forced to change the subject.

"Do you want to make something for dinner or order pizza?"

"Pizza will be fine for me. I'm not exactly a gourmet chef. I can make pretty decent scrambled eggs though, so I won't be eating any pizza for breakfast."

"Pizza it is. Now, what's the number for Pizza Hut?"

* * *

It was near dusk when Alex Whitman stepped out of the taxicab at the university.

He hurried into the building to quickly find his name on the housing assignments because the taxi driver's meter was running and costing him money.

He spotted his name on a piece of paper taped to the wall. There were five other names alongside his and an address. Copying the address onto his hand, Alex hoped the cabby would know where it was located. He then rushed out to the cab.

Fifteen minutes later, Alex arrived at a house that looked extremely small from the outside. The cabby helped him move his things to the curb and then took off after being paid a ridiculous amount of money.

Alex took his key and opened up the door. He found a rock to keep the door ajar, and quickly moved all of his things inside.

He heard voices coming from one direction and decided to investigate. In the kitchen, he found a gorgeous blonde sitting and talking with a guy who had hair that appeared to have gotten caught in the lawnmower.

Neither saw Alex until he ventured over and took a seat at the table. Once he was there, however, both immediately jumped up to say hello and to apologize for not realizing that he was there.

The blonde reached out her hand to shake his, "I'm Isabel. My guess is that you're Alex. Pleased to meet you."

"And I'm Michael. Max is upstairs sleeping, and Maria and Liz are sleeping on the couch in the living room. Everyone will be up in about twenty minutes, though, because that's when the pizza guy will get here and they'll wake up when the doorbell rings."

"Nice to meet both of you. Who's paying for the cost of pizza? I think I just paid a cabby fifty bucks! I just handed him a bill and he sped off!"

"I think we're all going to pitch in. Everyone paying five bucks should cover it. Besides, we shouldn't have any leftovers because Michael doesn't want to eat it for breakfast. He thinks that we're all going to fall in love with his scrambled eggs."

Isabel started laughing again, and this time Michael joined her.

Alex knew that in time he would understand the joke, but he didn't get it right then.

The three of them sat down again to get to know each other better, and to wait for the pizza to arrive.

* * *

At a quarter to eight, the doorbell rang, and the three in the kitchen heard stirring in the living room.

They walked out to answer the door, and found that the two sleeping princesses were finally awake.

Max trudged down the stairs to see what was going on.

Isabel opened the door and found the delivery boy standing there with two large pizzas. She gave him what was owed to him, took the pizzas, and returned to the kitchen. By the time she had set the pizza boxes down, she realized that five people were following her.

One by one, they sat down at the table, opened up the boxes and began to devour their contents. In ten minutes, the pizza was gone.

Finding that the table had grown quiet, Liz decided to start a conversation by asking everyone to answer the same question.

"So... Let's get to know each other a bit. How about we go around the table? Everyone tell their name, where they're from, and what they plan to get a degree in."

Nobody answered, so Liz continued.

"Okay. I'll start. I'm Liz Parker. I'm from Camby, Indiana, and I plan to get a degree in molecular biology. Maria, you can go next."

Maria sighed and rolled her eyes at her new friend.

"I'm Maria DeLuca. I'm from Roswell, New Mexico. Please no alien jokes; I've heard them all. I plan to get a degree in both music and art."

"I guess it would now be my turn. I'm Alex Whitman. I'm from California, and I plan to get a degree in both instrumental music and computer technology. It's your turn, Michael."

"I'm Michael Guerin. Don't ask how to spell my last name. In time, you will know. I'm from Pueblo, Colorado, and I plan to major in art. Your turn, Isabel."

"Okay. I would be Isabel Evans. I'm from New York City. If you don't know what state that's in, I'm sorry, but you're an idiot. Anyway, I plan to get a degree in cosmetics. This next to me would be my brother, Max. He's from the same place that I'm from. He doesn't have a girlfriend."

Turning to Max, Isabel found him shaking his head at her with a slight twinkle of amusement in his eyes. He figured that he could speak now that Isabel had apparently closed her rambling mouth.

"As my dear sister just said, I'm Max Evans. I'm from New York City also, and I want to get a degree in astronomical research."

Liz studied the faces around her, and then asked another question.

"Okay... So, what is everyone's favorite color? Mine's blue."

Maria answered next, "Purple."

Then Alex, "Red."

The trend continued. Michael's was black, Isabel's was green, and Max's was blue just like Liz's.

After talking for another half hour, the six decided to call it a night, even the ones that had slept for approximately three to four hours.

Each one went to bed with a smile on their face and one thought on their minds.

This was going to be a very interesting year.

* * *

Although the next day was a Saturday, all six were up with the sun.

Everyone had plans to finish moving in. Isabel and Alex were going to go grocery shopping, Max and Michael were going to finish unpacking, and Maria and Liz were planning to retrieve Maria's things from the bus station across the street as well as unpack. All intended to make their housing a home by the end of the day.

However, first thing, everyone was set on trying out Michael's famous scrambled eggs.

What they didn't know, however, was that Michael had used food coloring to make each person's egg their favorite color. Since his was black, he left his yellow.

Isabel was the first to react.

"Now I know why the guy didn't want to eat the green eggs in that Dr. Seuss book. Yuck! These eggs look really gross! What did you do, Michael, and why are yours perfectly normal?"

Michael was trying extremely hard to keep the eggs in his mouth until he could swallow so that he would restrain himself from spraying chewed scrambled eggs across the table, but it was too hard. He started to laugh, and the eggs flew across the table and landed on the tip of Maria's nose.

Now everyone was holding their sides as Maria's face turned bright red.

The next few minutes seemed to move in slow motion.

Maria picked up her purple eggs and started chewing ferociously.

Before Michael knew it, he had purple chewed-up scrambled eggs on his brand-new white tee-shirt. He knew that the food coloring wouldn't come out either.

That decided it for everyone at the table.

For the next fifteen minutes, colored scrambled eggs were flying across the kitchen.

Not a single person was unaffected.

Scrambled eggs were everywhere: in hair, on shirts, on the ceiling, on the floor.

Maria had eggs in her ears due to Michael's attempt to smear them on her face, and Michael had them up his nose due to Maria's attempt to retaliate.

Afterwards, however, everyone had a real breakfast and then went to clean up so that they could go about their originally arranged day.

At about nine-thirty, Isabel and Alex left for the grocery store around the corner, and Liz and Maria left to collect Maria's things, leaving Max and Michael to finish unpacking their things into their rooms.

* * *

Wandering through the aisles at the market around the corner, Alex and Isabel found many food items that they thought would be accepted under the label "food" by the house full of college students.

They found more eggs (due to the shortage from breakfast), cereal, bread, chips, meat, juice, soda, and so many more things so that they wouldn't be stuck eating pizza all the time, as the stereotyped college student usually was.

Alex followed behind Isabel, who seemed to have control over what she was doing.

She was wearing a red tank top and tight jeans.

It was almost as if Alex had been issued a death wish.

He had to continually divert his eyes away from her to the food on either side of him or else he would have a bit of trouble convincing her that he wasn't looking at her.

They picked through the selection, and then joined a checkout line so that they could get home. Once there, Isabel could begin to fix lunch and Alex could finish unpacking his things into his bedroom which was located in between Michael's and Maria's.

An amused grin spread across his face. However, it didn't go unnoticed by Isabel.

"What are you thinking about, Alex? You look like you're ready to burst out laughing!"

"I was just thinking of how it's a good thing that my room is in between Maria's and Michael's. After this morning, I'm sure they'd kill each other if their rooms were right next door to the other's. Don't you agree?"

Isabel was beginning to giggle.

"Did you see Michael's face when he realized Maria had gotten purple eggs all over his new shirt? I don't think he was angry at all. We are so going to have to watch out for those two. Something tells me that Michael was right when he said that she was going to be trouble."

Alex was laughing heartily by the time they reached the cashier.

"I think she's going to be the most trouble for Michael, though. They're like oil and water, but I think that they have more in common than they would like to believe."

The cashier was packing up the groceries by the time that Isabel and Alex discovered the meaning of "rolling on the floor laughing". Although they weren't exactly "on the floor", they were laughing extremely hard, and did not realize that the cashier was ready with their purchases.

"Ahem. Excuse me? I need you to pay for these and then leave, because if you haven't noticed, there's a long line behind you."

Isabel looked up.

"Right. I'm so sorry."

She stifled a giggle, and handed him enough to cover the purchases.

"Here you go. Thank you very much. Keep the change."

The two walked out of the store with the groceries, and turned the corner, still shaking with laughter as they talked about the events of the morning.

* * *

Maria and Liz left shortly after Alex and Isabel to get Maria's stuff from the bus station. The morning air was fresh and the station was just across the street, so it was not a hard trek to make.

When they arrived, Maria asked the stationmaster where they stowed luggage that was left to be retrieved later. He said that if it wasn't taken, it would be in the back room.

So, the girls went to the room the guy had been talking about. Once there, they found all of Maria's things stacked neatly in a corner.

After Maria had paid the guy for keeping the possessions overnight, they drug the boxes and bags back across the street and into the house little by little, and soon they were in Maria's room unpacking things from her past.

Liz kept asking where to place items throughout the room.

"Pictures?"

"Those of family on the shelf over there. That one of the dog can be placed on the nightstand."

"Music posters?"

"Find some tape and hang 'em up on the walls."

"TV?"

"On that small table over there."

"Anything else you need help with?"

"Nope. I think I'm fine here. You want to start on your room?"

In truth, they had finished unpacking Maria's things very quickly, and now the room looked incredibly "Maria-ish".

They started to go to the room next door, which was Liz's, when they heard Alex and Isabel coming in downstairs, and noticed Max and Michael arranging their things across the hall. Deciding to take a break from the "home decorating" that they were doing, Maria and Liz went down into the kitchen to help put away the groceries, but by the time they arrived in the kitchen, mostly everything was in place, so they decided to grab a soda and head back upstairs.

Once in Liz's room, they began to unload the many things she had brought with her, and now it was Maria's turn to ask where certain items were supposed to go.

"Astronomy posters?"

"Just do what you told me to. Find some tape. Hang 'em up! Oh, and could you put the telescope by the window? Thanks."

Maria's eyes widened as she shrieked.

"Telescope? You brought a telescope?"

"Yes. I brought a telescope! Is there something wrong with that?"

"Nope. Nothing at all. I'm sure Max will be in here often to use it, that's all."

Liz glared at Maria who was pretending that her comment was innocent.

"That wasn't the intention, Maria. And it's a good thing that that door is closed right now or you would be a dead DeLuca!"

Both girls rolled off of the bed and onto the floor laughing, landed with a big thump, and began laughing even more hysterically at all of the noise they were making.

A knock sounded on the door and they both jumped. A muffled voice came from the other side.

"Are you guys okay in there? Do I need to call an ambulance? Get a fire extinguisher? Find dirty socks to stick in your mouths? Anything?"

Maria was giggling as she replied. "We're fine, Alex. Do you want to come on in, though? We're almost done in here."

Alex peeped his head in through the doorway, and immediately the girls were laughing again.

"Is it safe to come in or are the giggle twins contagious?"

A ready grin spread across his face as the words only caused them to laugh harder.

He looked at the two holding their sides and started to laugh as well. Above the noise, however, the girls did manage to hear the comment that escaped his mouth.

"I think they are contagious. I just hope we don't have any old neighbors."

And again, the comment only caused another fit of laughter.

* * *

Max and Michael were in Max's room when they heard the big thud across the hallway and the sound of hyenas shortly thereafter. Michael muttered something about "that stupid pixie girl" and Max wanted was curious to know what had happened.

Michael decided to let someone else handle it. So, he called downstairs to whoever was listening.

"Could someone please come and see what that racket is? We're trying to unpack here!"

And then he went back to hanging up posters in Max's room.

"What are these posters of anyway, Max?"

"Just groups of stars, Michael. You should remember that my area of interest is astronomical research. You do remember that, right?"

Michael looked a bit ashamed as his head shot up and he responded.

"Of course I remember, it just seems a little extensive to have it surrounding you."

"And your art doesn't surround you?"

Max looked skeptically towards Michael, who had the beginnings of a smile in the slight curve of his lips.

"Okay. Point taken. I hope you're not always this much of a pain."

Both of the guys chuckled as they finished the last bit of the room.

By then, they realized that the only person not moved in was Alex, so they decided to go and see if he needed any help.

They didn't find him in his room, but in Liz's room, where he was hanging up something that both girls had been too short to reach.

Max's eyes were diverted towards the telescope that was set up by the window.

"You have a telescope, Liz? Wow! That is really cool! Could I come in for a bit? You know, talk science?"

Liz shot a glance toward Maria and saw that her friend had a smirk on her face. Her eyes had that "I told you so" look in them. She then looked back at Max.

"Sure. I think that would be all right."

The others started to filter out to go and help Alex finish unpacking. Their excuse was that they didn't want him to not have his things moved in, but both Max and Liz knew that they weren't interested in listening to the science-babble that was bound to be passed back and forth between the two aspiring scientists.

* * *

"Everyone? Lunch is ready!"

Isabel was yelling at the top of her voice up the stairs.

And apparently everyone heard, because in the next few moments, the house sounded as if a herd of stampeding elephants was running rampant down the stairwell. The group filtered into the kitchen and sat down, waiting for their lunch.

"What are you waiting for? Someone to serve you? I don't think so!"

They all looked at Isabel who stood scoffing at the prospect.

"Get your butts over here and get your own food!"

One by one, the other five filed past Isabel and by the counter. There, dishes had been set out with various toppings, and a large one held green iceberg lettuce.

Michael was the first to react.

"This is lunch? Maybe an appetizer, but lunch?"

And Maria was the first to sarcastically contradict him.

"Oh. Poor thing. We wouldn't want you to get fat on scrambled eggs and pizza, would we? Geez, Michael! One lunch of just salad won't kill you. Let me repeat that more slowly. It. Will. Not. Kill. You. Hey! And here's a plus! You can eat as much as you want!"

By now she was beginning to sound like a babysitter who was attempting to get her charge to eat. Michael scowled at her, and muttered something under his breath.

"What was that, Michael? Did I hear you say something?"

She smiled innocently at him as he replied.

"Only that you better watch out. And if I were you, I wouldn't eat anything that I cook for a while. You never know what I might put into it."

"Excuse me? Was that a threat, Mr. Booger-"

At that point, Isabel interjected.

"-Excuse me! Maybe we should leave you two with a babysitter if we ever go out and you don't want to go! We are trying to eat here, and if you two don't stop flirting right now, I won't be able to enjoy my food. And I so do not want another food fight today. One is enough, and the results still surround us. So, will you please shut up?!"

"We'll finish this later, Fartface."

"Yeah, whatever, Cheesehead."

The Peanut Gallery was ready to bust. They watched as Michael and Maria settled in at the table to eat their salads.

And in the room, silence hung over them until Alex started laughing. He whispered to Liz, who was standing next to him.

"Wow! They really know how to clear a room. Remind me if we ever have a party that gets too loud, to just let them have a cat fight and then everyone will shut up, and we can tell our guests to leave!"

By then, however, Liz had started laughing as well. In fact, everyone was laughing except for Michael and Maria, who sat glaring at each other and munching loudly on their dinner.

Eventually, everybody sat down at the table, and they began to talk among themselves.

Max and Liz were conversing about some astronomical issue. Something about solar flares, and gaseous giants. That kind of thing. They also made plans to do some stargazing that night at the park a few blocks down.

Isabel and Alex were talking about something different altogether. They were talking about the latest chick-flick to hit theaters. It was another Julia Roberts/Richard Gere movie. When Isabel began to ask Alex why he was so interested in movies like that, Alex merely answered that he had better friendships with girls, and that they had taken him to so many of those types of movies, that it had just grown on him.

"Don't worry, Isabel. I'm not gay."

To which Isabel put on an innocent face, and responded.

"I didn't even ask that, Alex."

"You didn't, but that's what you were thinking of. It's okay. I've been asked many times. Believe me. I'm one hundred percent straight. I like girls."

Isabel's face was flushed.

"I'm sorry, Alex. Really, I am. I was just wondering. Since you're not, you know, maybe we could do something sometime? I mean, if you want to..."

She looked up at him expectantly as he answered.

"I would love to."

* * *

Ten minutes after lunch, the girls were in the kitchen cleaning up, and the guys were sitting in the game room watching the television.

Suddenly, however, the doorbell rang, and since no one was expected, all six filed out into the entryway to see who it was.

Isabel answered the door, and found a man standing there who was in his mid-thirties.

"May I help you, Sir?"

"I just wanted to come by and introduce myself. You see, I own this house, and donated it to the University to use if they ever ran out of room. I'm Jesse."

Who he was dawned on all six, but Isabel, however, found her voice first.

"We're so sorry for being rude. Please come in, Jesse. Please do."

Jesse chuckled and entered the house. Everybody moved into the living room and took their seats in various places throughout the room.

Liz was overcome by a question, so she plainly asked it.

"If this is your house, then where do you live?"

"Actually, that was why I felt the need to introduce myself. You see, I live with my wife and children in Denver. On occasion, though, I have to come up here to work for a week, and it's easier not to have to drive back and forth. So, basically, every once and a while, I do live here. That's part of the agreement with the University. I let six students stay here while there's an extra room open for me if I ever need to come up and work. Does that make sense? Is that okay with everyone?"

"Yeah. That's fine. Thanks."

"Well, I really need to get going, but the University told me to drop by with your transportation. You are a good fifteen minutes from the campus, so they're not expecting you to walk to classes each day."

With that, Jesse rose to take his leave, and six pairs of eager feet traveled with him to the front porch where they found a minivan on the street in front of the house.

Jesse left the keys with Max and started walking down the street towards the University to get his own car as catty comments began to come from a spiky-haired boy's mouth.

"Great. Just what we needed. A minivan. Oh boy. We can be soccer people now."

"Michael. Shut up. How else would all six of us be able to get around? You can't legally stuff six people in a four or five passenger car."

"Maria. Let me tell you something. I've lived in Colorado for my entire life. I know the laws. I'm not stupid. Now, all I was saying was that a minivan is not exactly the norm for a bunch of college students. It's called sarcasm, Cheesebrain."

"Yeah. Whatever, Noodlebreath."

"Will you two just shut up?! Geez! I'll be so glad to get out of this house tonight!"

"You're leaving, Isabel? Where are you going?"

"Liz, Alex and I are going to go and see a movie."

"Um... Well, Max and I were going to go look at the stars at the park down the street. What are we going to do with Maria and Michael?"

"Get them a babysitter?"

"Hey! Michael and I do not need a babysitter!"

"Yeah! We'll be fine! It's not like we're going to really going to kill each other!"

"Uh-huh. Anyway, does everyone want to go pick up their schedules since classes start on Monday?"

Everyone murmured their approval as they piled into the van to go.

And off they went.

* * *

"Are you going to be okay tonight?"

"Liz. Babe! You are leaving me with Michael, not Freddie Kruger! I'll be fine! Chill!"

"You're right, Maria. I'm sorry. Just please... No blood on the carpet or the linoleum or the ceiling?"

The twinkle in Liz's eyes was seen by Maria.

"Okay, I promise you no blood will be around by the time you get back; I'll clean it all up before you do. No traces whatsoever!"

"Maria!"

Both girls began to laugh, letting off some of the nervousness that they were holding in about the forthcoming evening.

"A little anxious, Lizzie?"

"And why would you say that, Maria?"

"That's the sixth time that you've put your hair back in that headband, and it has looked perfect every single time."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Obvious? Nah! I mean, if you keep going like that, Max will think that you just have head lice or something of that sort. Nothing serious."

"Maria! I don't have head lice! I mean, can you seriously tell me that you aren't a bit uneasy about staying here alone with Michael when you keep trying on every pair of shoes you have in a continuous rotation? I think you've gone through all twenty pairs about five times by now!"

"I have not!"

Maria looked sheepishly at Liz. "I've only gone through them twice!"

"Same difference, Maria! So I exaggerated; Sue me!"

"How much do you have?"

"Maria! We're college students! What do you think I have? A million dollars?"

"No! But you do have a date! It's more than I have!"

"It is not a date, Maria. We're just going to go and look at the stars in the park since we're both into science. There is nothing wrong with that."

Maria gazed skeptically at Liz's agitated face. Liz broke out in an exasperated sigh and groaned, "Okay, so it is a date. What am I going to do? I haven't dated anyone with the same interests before. What do we talk about? The weather?"

"Lizzie! You talk about your common interest: science. Astronomy, chemistry, biology. That kind of thing. You'll be fine. Just take deep breaths."

"Just take deep breaths. Just take deep breaths. Just take deep... It's now or never, Maria. I'm going to leave now. Absolutely no blood shall be shed whatsoever. Is that clear?"

A high-pitched, mocking voice replied, "Yes, Mother. I'll be perfectly good for the babysitter."

And then under her breath Maria mumbled and laughed, "Who is literally non-existent at this time."

The two went downstairs to catch up with the rest who were ready for the evening's adventures.

* * *

Meanwhile...

"You're leaving me with Maria?! How could you? You two are so going to pay for this later!"

"Michael, it's perfectly fine. It's not like she's the Bride of Chucky or anything."

"I have to agree with Alex here, Michael. She's not going to kill you. Besides, maybe you'll find something that you can agree on rather than banter over."

"But you're leaving with Maria! What are we supposed to do all evening? Discuss the latest fashion trends?"

"Michael, you're forgetting that you both are here for some form of art study. Try discussing artists from different areas throughout history or something. I'm sure you can talk about something civil."

"Art. You want me to talk about art, Max? Art? And what are you and your lovely date going to talk about? Science?"

"It's not a date, Michael. We're going to study the stars in the park."

"Sure, Max. Keep telling yourself that. You've just changed your shirt ten times in the past five minutes. If it's not a date, you wouldn't care one bit about how you look."

"I'm trying to at least be clean, Paintboy. But if you insist, you can think of it as a date. You'd be the only one that would think so."

"Actually that isn't true, Max. Whether you'd like to admit it or not, it is a date. Isabel and I going out tonight is a date, and Michael and Maria stuck here alone is a recipe for disaster."

With a twinkle in his eye he added, "Are you sure we shouldn't call a babysitter?"

And Michael's face was immediately red with anger.

"Don't break anything, okay Michael?"

"Funny, Whitman. My sides are just about ready to burst."

Alex started to laugh, and soon Max had joined him.

"Look, Alex. Isabel doesn't like shirts buttoned all the way up to the top. You might want to unbutton the top one."

"Thanks, Max. I wouldn't have known that in a thousand years. I'm such a dork. What the heck does your sister think she's doing?"

"Well, what are you going to see, Alex?"

"The new chick flick. Neither of us remember the name, but have heard that it's pretty decent."

"Well, there you go. Not just any guy would go to a chick flick."

Alex's expression changed to that of a wounded puppy.

"I'm kidding, Alex. Isabel is quite sincere when she asks guys out. She's not toying with you. If she asked you out, she meant it."

Alex breathed a large sigh of relief.

All three stood up from the bed as Michael remarked, "Only one more day of freedom left."

To which Alex replied, "I think you're wrong, Michael. I think our freedom is just beginning."

Then, the three walked out the door and down the stairs to wait for the rest of the group to be ready for the evening's plans.

* * *

Meanwhile...

_Dear Journal,_

_Have you ever met someone and it was like an instantaneous spark was lit and continued to burn even though you couldn't explain it? The feeling that you've found the person that you're meant to be with? Nervous doesn't even begin to describe how I feel right now. Life used to be so simple. I got attached, but it was fairly easy to detach. I've never felt like this before. I'm so attached in so little time, and I know I'll never be able to detach. Alex is to be a part of my life for the remainder of what is to come. He's so sweet, so sincere, so indescribable. Tonight will surely be a wonder. I don't ever want to lose him, but one wrong move and I fear that I might._

_Love, Isabel_

* * *

The door slammed shut as last minute calls of "Be careful!" and "Don't hurt each other!" echoed through the door's frame.

Maria silently turned and walked up the stairs. However, little did she know that she had someone following her.

She had just turned into her room and sat down on the bed when she heard Michael's annoying voice sarcastically ask, "Are you just going to sit around on your bed all night?"

"Why would you want to know, Michael? I happen to enjoy being alone once and a while."

"I do too, but it's not like I want to be tonight."

The last part was mumbled, leaving Maria a bit confused. "What did you say?"

"I said, 'Whose dog is that in the picture?'"

"Oh."

Maria had to admit that she was a bit disappointed that he hadn't said what she thought he had, so she decided to answer the question that he had posed.

"It was mine. He died when I was little, just after my dad left. Why would you want to know about a dog anyway?"

"I don't know. I miss my dog. He looks almost exactly like that. He's at home with my folks right now; it's only a few hours away."

"You miss your dog? How pathetic is that?"

"I wouldn't be talking! At least I don't have a picture of my dog sitting on my bed stand!"

"I'm a girl, Michael Guerin! We're allowed to do things like that!"

"Fine! If that's the way you see things! I'm not going to sit around and have you yell at me for missing my dog all night. If you want to talk about something that doesn't involve yelling, I'll be downstairs watching the television!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

The door slammed as Michael stomped out to go downstairs.

Maria leaned her head back against her pillow and sighed. She then smiled and softly said, "I'll just let him sweat for a little while."

* * *

As Alex and Isabel ventured down the cold path towards the movie theater, Isabel drug Alex's warm hand out of his pocket and clasped it tightly to her frozen one.

"Hey!"

"I'm freezing! If you don't like it tough!"

"But now I'm cold, too!"

"Poor baby! Alex, I don't even see why you're trying to complain. I don't think your mouth could be stretched further from the east to the west with that grin!"

"Oh! So that's how you want to play?"

Alex then tackled Isabel, and they fell into a heap of leaves that had been raked up by someone, scattering them in all directions. The two of them laid there for about fifteen minutes, taking in the harvest moon and the stars in the clear night's sky.

Suddenly, Isabel shifted and muttered, "Great."

"Something wrong, Princess?"

Alex had a smirk on his face.

"Nothing really. Well, except for the fact that I have leaves in my hair, and that we're now late for the movie, Mr. Brilliant."

"It's the night after opening night anyway, Isabel. They probably sold out of tickets a half an hour before the show."

"I have to admit, I didn't really want to see the movie anyway. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts have no appeal anymore. They've done one too many movies together. The only real reason I wanted to go was to see if it was really possible for a guy to sit all the way through a chick-flick without squirming."

"Why, Isabel Evans! I'm shocked! What on Earth do you suppose we'll do now?"

Isabel started to giggle.

"I think I have an idea..."

She picked up some of the leaves and proceeded to dump them over his head as he simultaneously picked up some leaves of his own and began to chase after her.

For the next hour and a half, voices and the rustling of leaves could be heard all over the park as the two chased each other around, and their laughter echoed through the treetops.

* * *

Liz and Max walked along the street and turned the corner into a small park that was only a few blocks from the house.

Finding a dry spot near a grove of trees, Liz spread out the blanket that she had brought, and the two sat down, leaning back to gaze at the starry, Autumn sky.

After a little while, both of them saw a shooting star rocketing across the night.

"I made my wish. How about you, Liz? Did you make one?"

"I'm having a hard time deciding which wish to make. Did you have any trouble?"

"I just went with my first instinct. I don't stop to think about what wish I'm making until afterwards."

"Oh."

Silence surrounded the two.

"Okay, I made my wish."

"Really? What did you not wish for?"

"Well, I didn't wish that school started a month from now. I didn't wish that Michael and Maria don't kill each other tonight. I didn't wish that the sky would become overcast and begin to rain either."

"Why would you want it to rain?"

"Because if it rains, we'd be forced to go to that gazebo and stay there until it stopped."

The last bit was muffled. Max looked up to determine if she was blushing.

"We'd be forced to do what, Liz?"

Liz sighed and repeated what she had said more clearly.

"We'd be forced to go to that gazebo and stay there until it stopped."

"I guess that wouldn't be all that bad. What did you wish for, Liz?"

He saw the smirk on Liz's face as she replied, "That I wouldn't fall asleep before we were supposed to go back."

Max shot up with worry and anxiousness in his movements.

"Are you tired? If you are, you could have said something, and we wouldn't have come tonight. There are always other times."

"It's okay, Max. I wanted to come. That wasn't what I wished for, but I'm hoping it won't happen. Besides, a night away from Michael and Maria's bickering is wonderful, not to mention the company that I have."

The two laid down on the blanket and resumed watching the stars hanging in the dark evening sky.

* * *

Maria had laid on her bed for a half an hour just staring at the ceiling.

Suddenly, she said aloud, "I think that's enough time. When did I start talking to myself? It's just the boredom. It's just the boredom."

She ventured to the staircase and heard a song coming from the television.

"Kanine Krunchies can't be beat..."

Maria had to cup her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, but to no avail, her laughter rang out from the balcony.

"Do you have a problem, Maria?"

Maria was rolling on the floor clutching her sides, and exclaiming between fits of laughter, "101 Dalmatians! 101 Dalmatians! I should have known!"

And then she would collapse into giggles once again.

Little did she know that a certain spiky-haired boy was coming up the stairs to officially declare war.

"Now, you're going to get it, Cheeseface!"

* * *

"Okay. You're asking for it!"

Alex had finally caught up to Isabel and now she was tauntingly sticking out her tongue at him.

He landed with a plop next to her, sending leaves fluttering about in all directions.

"I am exhausted, Isabel."

"No kidding. I don't know how I ever had so much energy as a kid."

They sat in the pile of leaves for about five minutes, just taking in the view and the other's presence.

Alex then felt Isabel snuggle in close to him, and looked down to see what was going on. Realizing that she was fast asleep, Alex smiled to himself and let her be. He felt like sleeping himself.

* * *

Max felt a lump drop against his shoulder ten minutes later. Apparently, the day's activities had gotten to Liz just like she had predicted.

He smiled and placed his arm around her to draw her nearer to him.

Continuing to gaze at the stars, he began to ponder why the stars had placed all of them together in one house; it seemed that they had come up with the perfect combination.

* * *

"What do you mean by that, Puppy Guerin?"

"This!"

And with that, Michael pounced on Maria. He began tickling furiously, and she began to giggle even more uncontrollably than she had been a few minutes prior.

"Stop!"

She attempted to catch her breath, but it was to no avail. Her body continued to convulse with squeals of laughter.

"This ought to teach you not to make fun of the Dalmatians!"

And when she still didn't stop giggling, Michael didn't cease his onslaught of tickle-torture.

"And this ought to teach you that when I don't agree with you, there won't be blood on the floor, but... but..."

"But what, Michael?"

She then paused to gain more air.

"Drool from laughing so hard?"

"Funny, DeLuca. I believe that calls for another wave."

He began another assault of tickles immediately.

"Okay."

Maria was gasping for air now.

"I give. I give."

Huffing and puffing, both of them took a breather.

"That's so enough for me. I'm so worn out now. How in the world we ever did that as kids is beyond me. Whew!"

"Well... How about a movie? I've got the animated 101 Dalmatians, the live action 101 Dalmatians, and the live action 102 Dalmatians. Pick one."

"Michael, you are hopeless. If only the school paper has a gossip column... I can see it now... 'College Kid Misses His Doggie and Watches 101 Dalmatians Every Night'."

"And I can also see it now... 'Student Got Kicked Out of School because She Laughed too Much'."

"Oh, that's really mature, Michael."

"So? I don't care! I'm the kid who watches 101 Dalmatians, remember?"

"Whatever."

"Race you to the couch?"

Michael was smirking.

"You think that you can beat me, Dogboy?"

"As a matter of fact, I do, Yellowhead."

"You're on!"

"Okay. Ready? Go!"

Maria took off after Michael as they raced down the stairs. Once there, Maria pounced on Michael and told him.

"You cheated! You skipped 'Get set'. You stupid bonebrain! Cheater!"

"So I cheated! Sue me!"

"Maybe I will, and I'll sue for your dog!"

Michael gasped in false horror.

"Not my dog! Anything but that! I'll give you anything, I tell you! Anything!"

"Anything?"

"Anything!"

Maria responded by smacking him squarely on the head with an overstuffed pillow.

"Now you're gonna get it!"

Michael lunged with another pillow and the next stage of their fight was underway, leaving the walls echoing with Maria's giggles and loud thwaps, while the television still showed scenes from 101 Dalmatians.

* * *

"Oh my!"

Liz gasped as she and Max worked their way into the house. It was true that no blood was on the floor, but there were other things on it instead: Stickers, M&amp;Ms, feathers. The place looked like a hurricane of chickens and five-year-olds had hit.

Max chuckled, and replied, "Well, I don't think they killed each other. I wonder where they are..."

Liz rushed up the stairs to Maria's bedroom.

"Maria!"

Maria jumped as the door opened and Liz's voice came ringing through.

"Liz!"

"Maria! What are you doing?!"

"Liz, babe. Look at the television. See the movie. We're watching a movie. Do you know what movie it is? It's called '101 Dalmatians'. It's a movie that kids watch."

"You're watching 101 Dalmatians?! That's one of my favorite movies ever!"

Liz squealed and jumped onto the floor near the foot of Maria's bed. Max came in and sat down beside her.

Michael snorted, "Oh boy. Now this is officially a slumber part-"

He was silenced with a whack to the head from the blonde sitting directly next to him.

"Don't start that again, DeLuca!"

She replied innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Max and Liz looked at each other and Max told them, "Well, you should, because I don't think that Michael could make that big of a mess himself, and I don't think that Michael wants to clean that all up tomorrow by himself."

Maria began to giggle as she recalled the various things they had thrown or stuck at/onto each other earlier. She didn't realize that she was, however, until she landed with a thump as she rolled off the bed.

"Ow!"

"Oh, did the poor, widdle blonde hurt her bum?"

"Shut up, Michael! You pushed me! You touched my 'bum'!"

"Did not!"

Michael was trying to avoid the smirking grins of Max and Liz, and while he was attempting to do that, he felt his body giving way, and rolling of the bed as well with a large kerplop.

"Okay, Dogboy. Now we're even."

"Whatever, Cheesebreath."

The two sat silently returned to watching the movie as the other two exchanged amused glances, and also resumed watching the movie.

* * *

Alex and Isabel arrived home about an hour later to find no one downstairs, so they ventured upstairs to see where the rest had gone.

They peeked into all of the bedrooms to find them each empty. The last room they checked, however, was Maria's. There they found everyone at peace watching '101 Dalmatians'. Liz was leaning against Max fast asleep, and Michael and Maria were sitting upright on the bed.

Isabel went off to her room after giving Alex a goodnight hug.

Soon after, Max picked Liz up and carried her to her room where he gently tucked her under her covers before going to bed himself.

* * *

Michael looked over at Maria once the movie ended. Her pile of blonde curls was resting against her pillow and her legs were sprawled out over her bed.

Michael turned off the television, popped the tape out of the VCR, and decided that he, too, needed to go to his room for some much-needed sleep.

But before he left, he leaned over and brushed a light kiss on Maria's cheek.

"Thanks for not leaving me alone tonight, Cheesehead."

And with a smile on his face, he went to spend the rest of the night in sweet slumber.


End file.
